


The River Won't Flow

by MurkyBud



Category: IT (2017) RPF, IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Losers Club (IT), Alcohol, Bisexual Beverly Marsh, Coming of Age, Drug Use, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Richie Tozier, Graduation, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Post-Graduation, Slow Burn, i'll keep it updated as the story goes on, teenagers being teenagers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-20 00:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20666315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MurkyBud/pseuds/MurkyBud
Summary: Richie sits on a lot of things including your mom's face, but Eddie can't take it when his best friend's been sitting on his own capacities to the point where he may be the only one not leaving Derry after graduation. While Eddie tries to fight against Richie's fatalism, Richie offers him to make something out of their last summer together.





	1. When you're bored I'm interested

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic ever ! Just had to write stuff down after seeing It chapter 2 cuz those reddie feels just won't leave yknow ? some disclaimers, english is not my first language, so if something just doesn't sound right, go ahead and tell me with a smile !

Richie shifted awkwardly in the hammock, ignoring the beseeching cracking of the fabric. There wasn't even much point in using it anymore. The boy grew up so much since they hung it up years ago that his butt practically rubbed against the ground. It might as well break once and for all, Richie thought. Eddie would be pissed, as fitting just well in the hammock was the only benefit he could find in remaining the smallest one of the group. Richie was a boy of many interests, and pissing Eddie off was one of them. However, there was a way to do it, and tearing apart an old hammock with the only weight of his teenage butt wasn't that satisfying. Especially when the boy to pester wasn't even there. 

The lanky boy let his legs fall on both sides and stood up. Not completely though. He learnt after numerous bumps against the ceiling to keep his head slightly tilted forward. Many things changed ever since this sinister summer. The clubhouse was not one of them, as narrow as when they discovered it. Ben talked about expanding the space, as it became more and more difficult for the seven of them to hold in it, but no construction site ever followed. No one ever denied Ben's qualities when it came to put up a construction of any sort, so it wasn't to anyone's surprise when he said he'd apply to that one college where architecture was kind of a big thing. Richie couldn't remember its name, or the names of the hundred of universities he heard about thoughout the year. Senior year, his last one in Derry's High and -let's hope for the best, well, in Derry. 

For a kid born in a small town like Derry, it was more likely to count the days until the big departure. Especially more for a kid who took part in the beating down of a child eating clown. To them, the whole town was not only a hole, but also smelled like shit. Literally. Richie never wanted to approach the drains again, and kind of never did, but the smell had seemed to embrace every house, store and street. Before the events of this summer 1989, he could spend several days without stepping in a bathroom and took great pride in it, bugging Eddie with the rank smell of his feet. Now, he would take at least one shower a day. Anything to get rid of the damp smell. Even if it implied annoying Eddie a bit less. 

"Smells musky in here." 

Richie turned around to meet the glare of Beverly, leaning against the unsteady ladder which linked the underground hideout to the outside. Her eyes shined wickedly behind her red locks, but she still had this aura of maturity emanating from her. Cigarette in hand, she was keeping her head at the level of the hatch to blow the smoke in that very Bev nonchalent way. 

"Not lady like enough to your taste ?" Richie replied "Maybe if you blew your boyfriend better he would have put up ventilation or some shit."

Bev snorted, the way she always did whenever Richie said something humourous. He liked it. His experience showed him how difficult it was to make a girl laugh. Or at least, to make a girl laugh _with_ him rather than laughing _at_ him.

"Stop it with Ben. If you think you'd do a better job than me, ask for a decent couch too. This hammock's on the verge of suicide." 

If Ben was there, he would have redden on the spot. Little man could erect furnished hideouts and go on with his life with a slashed stomach but still couldn't take a joke. 

"What's the use in that ? It's not like you're gonna hang out here a lot once you'll graduate."

"Once _we'll_ graduate, you mean ?" Bev corrected him, frowning a little. "Oh yeah. I still believe one of us will get a nice appartment in New York so we can hang out there whenever we want."

Richie shrugged, picking up the tape player he tossed earlier on the wobbly coffee table and making his way towards the ladder. Bev got back up fast so he could too. Both of them emerged from the clubhouse, and Bev carelessly threw away her cigarette butt as Richie put on his patched up headphones. 

"Rich, there's no way you're not graduating. You worked so hard for this-"

"Sure." 

He wanted his voice to sound casual, just like Bev managed to make hers sound concerned. There's no way she believed in anything she just said. She saw it all, the truancy, the lame parties at night where Richie dragged in as many people as he could, the hungovers that followed. He did take a look in his school books, because Eddie made him, but there wasn't much point in doing it for the first time a week before the exam, especially with Eddie sitting right besides him on his bed, doing the thing where he would just frown as hard as he could -which was to say not much, just because Richie would frustrate him so hard, _seriously, how hard is it to remember some stupid rivers' names_. 

_If you can't leave this town because of some stupid rivers, I swear I'll beat the shit out of you Richie._

Richie smiled to himself, remembering the way Eddie basically threatened him in the most absurd yet serious way. Eddie always had a way with words, how he would blurt them out, driven by conviction and feelings which often seemed too big for his little body. Most people would qualify Eddie of shy, delicate, and Richie would agree to all of these things, but he also knew better. Battling a child eating clown gave them the opportunity to learn a bit more about each other, there's that. 

"'Right Bev, I'm off." 

"Say hi to Eddie's mom for me."

The girl knew him too well. 

Eddie's house was the last one of the cul-de-sac, safely nestled next to a crumbly fence. The front court was strewn with trash bags and various garden tools that didn't seem to be used a lot, given the wilderness of the hedges which neatly flanked each side of the house. Richie knew that Eddie never was of fortunate means, but the more the years went by, the worse it seemed to get. Since his mom wasn't getting out of the house anymore, Eddie got himself a spare time job in the post office and crossed the town delivering stuff, to the great displeasure of Mrs Kaspbrak.

Speaking of the devil, Richie got a glimpse of the massive figure of Mrs Kaspbrak, who spent most of her days on a couch near the window so she could spy on her neighbours whenever she felt like it. She didn't seem to move an inch, so Richie assumed she was probably asleep. Eddie's mom hated anyone who wasn't her sweet boy, but she had a real aversion to Richie very especially. The feeling was mutual, to say the very least, even though he joked a lot about having hanky panky on a regular basis with this dragon. Truth is, she gave him the spooks. 

Richie took off his headphones and carefully went the length of the hedge. Knocking at the door and asking for Eddie to _come out and play_ was not even conceivable. He had to scheme. Soon enough, he could see his friend's bedroom window on the second floor. Richie bent and grabbed a handful of gravel, but before he could throw one at the pane, it opened suddenly and a loud whisper came out of it. 

"Don't you fucking dare." 

The dark-haired boy threw one nonetheless and it went right through the slit. He heard a muffled gasp and the window closed again. It was only a matter of minutes before Eddie would join him and punch his shoulder or something. He was kicking some litter around when the footsteps of someone approaching with rage got closer and soon enough he _did_ receive a punch on the shoulder. 

"You bitch."

"Nice to see you too Eds", Richie said as he adjusted his glasses, "What did you tell your momma this time ?"

"That I had some errand to do."

"The errand being ?" 

"Fucking your mom, Richie."

Richie ruffled his friend's hair in this patronizing way that Eddie hated so much, even more than being called Eds. It reminded him of how little he was compared to his best friend, who grew up ridiculously fast over the years. He slapped the lanky boy's hand away and headed to the street, followed by Richie who was sighing theatrically.

"Sometimes I'm afraid of the monster I've created. Soon, you'll surpass the master and get all the moms I couldn't fuck."

"Right. What will you do then ?" 

"Get a nice house on the west coast and enjoy my retirement I guess." Richie sped up his pace a little and tilted his head towards Eddie, wiggling his eyebrows. "But what you won't know is that I'll actually be scheming my revenge to earn my title back."

"Yeah, well you know what else you could've prepared Richie ?" Eddie snapped back, a touch of exasperation in his voice, "Your damn exam."

Richie didn't answer immediately, leaving time for Eddie to regret a bit what he just said. He wasn't keen on behaving the way a parent would normally do. It wasn't funny or cute, and he felt a bit like Stan.

"Really, Eds. You can't fuck anyone's mom if you're turning into one." Richie finally flatly replied.

Eddie rolled his eyes, his friend's answer wiping out his guilt. He really was a pain in the ass.

"Met Bev at the clubhouse." Richie continued, unbothered. "But I guess she was looking for Ben, so we better not go looking for them. Maybe they wanna make their time left together count, y'know." 

Richie sounded weird, like fatalist. Eddie didn't like it. 

"You're talking like they're gonna die or something." Eddie kicked a rock on his way.

"Well, aren't they ? I mean, them as a couple." 

Both of them had slowed down, lazily striding along the street. Richie took out a cigarette and a lighter, even though he knew Eddie hated the smoke. What was up with him ? 

"The fuck, no ? I mean, they're good right ?"

Richie raised his eyebrows and let out a chuckle, his lips tight on the cigarette.

"Yeah yeah they're good. Super good." He took a long drag and exhaled the smoke slowly. Clearly beating around the bush. "Ben got his letter from the college. He got in. Bev didn't."

Eddie knew, not because his friends told him, but because everybody knew the outcome beforehand. Ben's student file was truly impressive, as he probably was the most serious student among them. Bev had applied to the same university as him, as you would expect from a teenager in love who didn't really care about what courses to take as long as she'd get out from Derry and everything else. But her records weren't good enough to even hope getting in. She knew it well, and had also applied to a "second-class college", as she called it, somewhere in Austin, where she had some relatives. Very far from Ben. Eddie was not an expert when it came to romantic relationships. He never had a girlfriend and could only learn from what he could observe, and he never really saw a love affair lasts despite the distance. Still, they would make it work. 

"So what ? What does it have to do with them breaking up ?" Eddie asked visibly confused, to the great amusement of Richie who kept puffing on his cigarette. 

"They won't see each other anymore. That's problematic, Eds, not that you would know."

"They're gonna write each other tons of letters. That's kind of their thing." Eddie replied with a shrug, ignoring the cutting remark. 

Richie seemed to have seen it all about relationships and affairs. Maybe he had, Eddie thought anxiously. God knows what was going on when it came to Richie and the ladies. He talked and joked a lot about it, as he did about everything, so it was quite hard to discern what was true in this blabbering mess. From the moment where Richie started spending a lot of time outside at night with people he barely knew, it was hard to know anything about him anyway. Eddie didn't like this change about his best friend, but it's not like he could do something about it.

"Sure they will. But can they fuck via USPS ? Is that a service you guys offer now ?"

"Shut it Richie, it's not always about the sex." Eddie blurted out, feeling his cheeks redden. He didn't want to dwell on the subject with _him_, for the same reason why he didn't like feeling small compared to his friends. Richie must have noticed, since he was staring at him intensely through his glasses. 

"You're right, it's not." Richie could see Eddie relax a bit, as if his whole body was anticipating some jab. "But it's still a big part of the deal. Anyway, I don't think it's gonna work and I think they think the same way. That's why," Richie playfully poked his friend's ribs with his elbow. "I say we leave them alone for now."

"Yeah." Eddie mouthed, still unsure of what to think about all this. Richie seemed unable to care less, making Eddie feel like he cared too much. "I don't know what you planned on doing anyway. Bill and Mike got baseball practice and Stan's dad won't get off his back before graduation."

Richie shrugged and tossed his cigarette on the ground, stomping on it before resuming walking. 

"What, I'm not good enough for you now Eds ? What else do you need ?" Richie threw an arm around his friend's shoulders, while sweeping the horizon with his other hand, as if there was more than some boring houses and waste ground around them. "You, me. Derry." His voice dropped, causing Eddie to frown. "One last entire summer to spend together."

"Okay ?" Eddie answered, clear concern in his voice but also the tint of a smile on his face. "Meaning ?"

Richie stopped, this time grabbing Eddie's shoulders and stared right into his eyes with that shit eating grin of his.

"Meaning we're gonna make this time left together count."


	2. Stupid rivers

** _Two weeks ago_ **

"Your parents don't mind ?"

Stan wandered around the room a bit, pensively checking out the photographs Richie pinned on his walls over the years. One showed two little boys wearing a kippah, not looking at the lens but still smiling widely. Richie uncapped his beer and dropped himself onto his bed. 

"Nah, they're cool", Richie answered with a shrug. "I mean, cool enough not to search my room." He gestured at Stan, who got out another warm beer from under Rich's bed. "C'mon, gimme yours, I'll open it for you."

The blonde complied and took a sip as soon as he got it back opened. 

"What if they did though ?" He asked, having a sit on the desk chair. For as long as he could remember, this is the seat he'd take whenever he visited his friend. And that meant something, as the two boys knew each other since kindergarten. At this point, he was firmly convinced he used it more than Richie himself, whose desk seemed to convert itself into a dirty clothes' shelter. 

"I don't know. I guess my dad would be more upset about the beers being warm than finding out about his son's alcoholism." Richie said before having a mouthful of the said beverage. 

"Hiding cheap beers under your bed doesn't make you a drunkard, dumbass." Stan sighed, still not over the way his friend would transform every little thing he did into an overstatement. "Anyway, I can't even imagine how mine would react. I would get the smack of my life, that's for sure." He pulled a face of disgust after taking a second sip. "And this shit isn't worth it."

"Fuck you man, I won't let you have it if you can't appreciate it." Richie moaned as he tried to give Stan a kick of his leg, but the latter sneered and rolled away on his chair to stay out of reach. "Like your stingy ass knew better than tap water-"

"Watch out !"

Richie realized a tad too late that half of his beer spilled all over the comforted. 

"Fucking hell..." The boy muttered to himself as Stan laughed, spinning on the desk chair and clapping his thighs. 

"Now you can brag about living the full alcoholic experience ! Step two is sleeping in your own vomit." 

"Shut it Stan, or I'll spill the rest on your ugly ass shirt." 

Eventually, Richie put down his bottle on the floor with a sigh and fell back onto his bed. 

"I don't wanna work for this stupid exam. I swear, I can't do it."

"What now ?" Stan frowned, ready to resume the stern figure his friend clearly needed. "I remember you mug up on your notes right before the test and still getting A's and B's. All you have to do is making an effort this time to get away with a good enough grade. Some work their asses off all year for results you get doing nothing."

"Keep that jealousy to yourself, Stanley, you reek of frustration." 

Stan frowned strenghtned. 

"You reek of beer and you're not even an alcoholic."

Richie couldn't help but to let out a laugh. Stan may not always be the funniest fella to be around, but Richie definitely wanted him to narrate his life or something. He had this very jaded, weary voice he would point things out with, making them even sadder and paradoxically funnier. The man whose power was to turn shitty events into comedy gold, now that's a man Richie wanted to keep around. And he did, for almost fiveteen years. 

"Don't ever change, Stan. Keep on being awesome."

"Will do."

"After you, milady."

Eddie rolled his eyes as he entered Richie's bedroom, who then closed the door behind them. He knew this room very well. His own mom wouldn't let him invite friends for sleepovers, so whenever they didn't feel like going out, Eddie went playing video games at Richie's place. However, he still wouldn't get over how messy the room was. Trying his best to ignore the unidentified litter scattering the floor, Eddie went right for the bed, carefully sitting on it. 

"What the..." He mouthed with disgust and stood up immediately. A wet ocher stain covered the comforter. "Tell me it's not pee."

Richie laughed as he took the comforted to turn it around. 

"Yeah, nah, it's um, beer." Eddie was now giving him a skeptical look, and it made Richie smile even more. Once he finished with the comforter, he sat on the bed but Eddie stood still. "What ?"

"_You_ drink alcohol all by yourself in your room during the day ?" His voice was reaching the high notes, as it always did when he was particularly offended. 

"Yes. I get drunk whenever something bad happens to me. I knew you were coming so I got a head start." Richie answered, his smile getting wider as he spoke. 

"Screw you !" Eddie exclaimed, smiling as well.

"Too easy. Stan came by earlier and we had one beer, no big deal." For whatever reason, it seemed to appease Eddie who joined him on the bed. "I was just so excited to see you that I spilled mine, Eddie spaghetti."

"Yeah well, you better get excited for this." Eddie said as he tried his best to hide a smile. He reached down to his backpack at his feet and got out of it several school books and revision sheets. "I came prepared." 

Richie let out a groaning and crawled backwards to the other end of his bed. Eddie brandished the geography book menacingly, as if he was about to smack down his friend with it. 

"There's no turning back, Richie ! You agreed for this !" Eddie thought he was really good at being authoritarian, as the other boy had stopped his whining and was now silently staring at him, an inscrutable glint in the eyes. "I'm in control now. I do the speaking and you shut the hell up."

Richie had seemed to freeze, still leaning backwards on his elbows. Eventually, he moved back up his glasses on the bridge of his nose and sat up straight.

"Fine." He said, snatching the book from Eddie's hands. 

"Fine." Eddie echoed, visibly pleased with himself. He probably did more taming Richie for one minute than any other teacher did during his whole schooling.

"It's been two hours already can we stop ?" Richie begged, covering his face with the school book he was absently reading. 

"I don't know, do you know your stuff ?" Eddie answered, putting down his revision sheet. Richie groaned affirmatively. "Okay then, gimme that book." Eddie didn't wait for Richie to do so as he directly leaned towards him to take it off his face and flip through the pages. 

"Name two rivers that flow in Europe." He then asked as he sat closer to his friend. 

"The fuck ? That's not going to be in the exam-"

"Richie, there's an entire chapter about it right there." 

Richie didn't answer and tried to yank the book from Eddie, who tightened his grip and pulled it away. 

"You didn't even try ! Seriously, how hard is it to remember some stupid rivers' names ?"

"I'm trying okay ? I don't know, I just can't concentrate !" 

"Lame."

It was true though. There was a hundred of racing thoughts going through Richie's mind, and not a single one of them was about geography. Some were about Eddie's eyelashes, remarkably long and pretty as he blinked frantically trying to understand a paragraph he was reading. Others were about the way he would nervously tap his foot on the frame of the bed. But right now, they were all about how close they were sitting next to each other, Eddie's hand laying an inch away from Richie's own. Richie usually didn't shy away from physical contact, even with Eddie. But there was something so intimate yet embarassing about their hands almost touching that he couldn't stop imagining doing it and all the scenarios that could follow. One of them where Eddie would simply look at him and intertwine their fingers in response made his whole body feel hot.

"If you can't leave this town because of some stupid rivers, I swear I'll beat the shit out of you Richie." Eddie mumbled.

Dragged out of his fantasy, Richie raised his eyebrows. 

"You think I don't wanna leave this place ?" He snapped back, not intending to sound that sharp. Eddie shrugged without detaching his eyes from that damn page about rivers. "I really want to leave okay ?" 

Eddie was not saying anything and rubbed his chin, still focused on his reading. He could feel the tears coming up and he was trying really hard not to let them flow. He hated how sensitive he could be, and he couldn't imagine something worse than crying in front of _him_. He couldn't explain it but there was something so disturbing about leaving Richie behind, alone in Derry. Sadly, Richie could be an oblivious piece of shit. 

"What, Eds, do you worry that much about me ? That's so cute." Richie didn't like the unpleasant turn the conversation took and tried to ease the tension by poking repeatedly his friend.

"Oh my god, I'm really going to punch you." Eddie finally let out in a breath, taking advantage of the situation to quickly wipe his watery eyes. 

"Not if I punch you first-" But before Richie could finish, Eddie had already tackled him down on the bed. They both fell on the floor wrestling, until Eddie felt his elbow knock down something. Both of them froze.

"Fuck." 

The rest of Richie's warm beer from earlier had spilled all over the carpet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> first flashback, just an excuse for them to share more domestic moments really. introduced Stan, my third fav of the losers club ! he really is the wingman of those two chaotic boys, it's semi canon, that's not up to debate.  
anyway next chapter should be about present time, it'll take place right after what happened in chapter 1.


	3. Belch is a loser, pass it on

"Making this time left together count... doing what ?"

Richie's hands were still on Eddie's shoulders, and if it wasn't for the confused look that took over his face, Eddie could've sworn his friend was phasing out. He's phasing out a lot lately, Eddie thought.

"I don't know", Richie finally admitted, "what do you wanna do ?"

"Oh my god, just let me go home already." Eddie breathed out with a chuckle, causing Richie to smile as well. "You can't just force me to get out and then stand under a fucking burning hot sun doing nothing." 

"We used to be clever, Eddie, we used to be creative !" Richie whined as he shook his friend by the shoulders. "What happened ?"

"Stop it, dickwad !" Eddie cried out, pulling himself out of Richie's grip. "I don't know, it's not like there is a lot to do in this shithole when you're over 12. And you're the one who spends his time outside..." He pointed an accusatory finger at him "… doing whatever."

"Adult business sir, nothing shady I swear." Richie sinked his hands in his pockets and stiffened up, probably imagining himself as three kids stacked up under a trenchcoat. He then lowered his voice, raising a suggestive eyebrow. "But I can show you if you want to."

Eddie stood still a moment, considering the oddly vague offer and simply shrugged, giving his friend what he hoped was a carefree attitude. 

"Yeah, right."

"For real !" Richie assured with a grin. "I could take you to a night out ! You never went to a night out with me, did you ?"

_No, you never took me to one of your nights out, because you apparently decided your so called best friend couldn't get to know this new side of you._ Eddie wanted to say those words so badly, and he had every right to. As if Richie couldn't remember if he ever went to one of these parties with Eddie. As if these parties weren't that much of a big deal, when he kept mentionning them to let everyone know how much of a big boy he was. Eddie never gave him satisfaction in this regard, brushing off the stories with an off topic question and an unimpressed look. 

"Not that I can recall." He eventually said. 

"Very nice then. We know what we're doing tomorrow night. That's a good start."

Eddie was about to reply something snarky, but he quickly shut his mouth. Next to one of the numerous bars that livened up the grey streets, Eddie could distinguish the familiar shape of Belch, a beer in the hand and sagging shoulders. Richie must've noticed too, as he was remaining unusually silent.

When Henry Bower was found guilty for the murder of his own father, his gang had seem to shatter. Yet, it wasn't rare to see one of its former members hanging around the town, stumbling like sad zombies. None of them left Derry after graduation -if they ever graduated, but they seemed to have also given up on their favorite hobby, which consisted in hunting each Losers' Club member down. Still, Eddie found it really difficult to simply ignore them whenever their paths crossed. 

As they got past an obviously soused Belch, Eddie could feel the big guy's dead stare following them. He then imagined heavy steps getting closer and instinctively reached down to the absent fanny pack he had stopped carrying around. They weren't 10 anymore, they could probably defend themselves better than they did back then, but the street was empty, what if Belch suddenly decided to chase them and beat them up... Eddie's anguish stopped when he felt the tickling of Richie's curls against his cheek.

"You know what I wanna do right now ?" He whispered into Eddie's ear who shooked his head. The grin in Richie's voice was tangible. "Something scandalous."

"Don't." Eddie answered hastily. "I swear to god, don't."

"The guy's wasted. No one gives a shit about them anymore, we'll be doing community service."

"Richie."

The latter had came to a halt abruptly and the asphalt gritted under his shoes. Eddie felt his heart fall at the bottom of his chest but then, Richie resumed his walking, containing a hysterical laughter and eyeing a mortified Eddie. 

"Poor Eddie, poor, poor Eddie spaghetti. So easy." He was now laughing out loud.

"I hate you." 

Eddie looked over his shoulder. Belch didn't move an inch, stooped, staring at something in front of him that wasn't there. Somehow, he looked more pitiful than he ever did. 

"You, you really thought I was gonna... what ? Throw a goddamn rock at him ? How stupid would it be, defeating a fucking killer clown to get killed by motherfucking Belch weeks before leaving Derry ?" Richie said with great gestures, occasionally bumping Eddie's shoulder. "You know what, Eds ? Out of all the band, you're my favorite one to pick on. Worth it everytime." 

"I fucking figured that, assface." Eddie snapped back, slowly getting his assurance back. "How the hell are you gonna do when I'll be miles away from you ?" 

Richie's smile kind of faded as he shrugged pensively. 

"I don't know. I might _die_."

"Geez, Rich. You'll find another victim." 

"No way." Richie said, absurdly categorical. "I'll never find someone just as perfect as you." There was an awkward silence before he realized how weird it sounded. "Targetically speaking, you know. You fucking stink, Kaspbrack." He promptly added, adjusting his glasses back on his nose.

Eddie felt like missing a step, but they were walking on a plain road. Taken aback, he couldn't think of an answer right away and messed up Richie's glasses again with a flick. 

"Just die then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> vry vry short chapter before the big party one. can't wait to write about a bunch of dumb teens brought together and all the party tropes that ensue.


End file.
